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Cape Petrel (Daption capense) Alternate name(s): "Pintado Petrel", "Cape Fulmar"; misnomer: "Cape Pigeon" Size: 35-40 cm; wing span 80-90 cm Body mass: 350-550 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: ca. 0.42

Australia: Family Group 3 Family Group 3 table Southern Fulmar Antarctic Petrel Cape Petrel Mottled Petrel Black-winged Petrel Providence Petrel Grey-faced Petrel Kermadec Petrel Soft-plumaged Petrel Tahiti Petrel Buller's Shearwater Wedge-tailed Shearwater Flesh-footed Shearwater Sooty Shearwater Short-tailed Shearwater Fluttering Shearwater Hutton's Shearwater Little Shearwater Antarctic Prion Slender-billed Prion Fairy Prion Blue Petrel Southern Giant-Petrel Northern Giant-Petrel Light-mantled Albatross Wandering Albatross Southern Royal Albatross Northern Royal Albatross Black-browed Albatross Campbell Albatross Buller's Albatross Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Shy Albatross Common Diving-Petrel Wilson's Storm-Petrel New Zealand Storm-Petrel White-faced Storm-Petrel Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Cape Petrels are mid-size seabirds with a white front and black back. The head, neck, bill, eyes, legs, feet and tip of the tail are black, while throat, breast, belly, vent and part of the tail are white. The upperwings, rump and mantle are mottled black-and-white.

Taxonomy, classification See Cape Petrel at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Cape Petrel is available HERE . There are two races of Cape Petrels, both of which are found on the open sea of the Southern Ocean and the southern parts of the continents on the southern hemisphere, most prominently South America and New Zealand. In Australia, Cape Petrels can reach coastal waters and the southern coastline anywhere from about Fraser Island, QLD, to Exmouth, WA. Cape Petrels breed on many antarctic and subantarctic islands.

Sightings Click here for sighting information B. Hensen reports spotting Cape Petrels on the Windmill Islands, Antarctica, in December 1993. M. Mearns reports spotting Cape Petrels above the Southern Ocean, between Australia and Antarctica, in January 2005. M. Eaton found Cape Petrels on a pelagic off Eaglehawk Neck, TAS, in September 2021. More photos shown below were taken by C. Pears between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula in December 2024.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

Lateral view of a Cape Petrel (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Off Eaglehawk Neck, TAS, September 2021]

Lateral view of a Cape Petrel (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Off Eaglehawk Neck, TAS, September 2021]

Dorsal view of a Cape Petrel with its wings spread (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Off Eaglehawk Neck, TAS, September 2021]

Dorsal view of a Cape Petrel at take-off (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Off Eaglehawk Neck, TAS, September 2021]

Small mob of Cape Petrels resting on the water's surface (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[December 2024]

Near-frontal view of a Cape Petrel in flight (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Southern Ocean, January 2005]

Near-lateral view of a Cape Petrel in flight (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[December 2024]

Lateral view onto the underparts of two Cape Petrels in flight (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[December 2024]

Lateral view onto the upperparts of a Cape Petrel in flight (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[December 2024]

Lateral view onto the upperparts of two Cape Petrels in flight (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[December 2024]

Lateral view of a Cape Petrel in flight (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[December 2024]

Lateral view of a Cape Petrel in flight (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Off Eaglehawk Neck, TAS, September 2021]

Lateral view of a Cape Petrel banking in flight (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Off Eaglehawk Neck, TAS, September 2021]

Near-dorsal view of a Cape Petrel in flight (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Off Eaglehawk Neck, TAS, September 2021]

Near-dorsal view of a Cape Petrel in flight (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Off Eaglehawk Neck, TAS, September 2021]

Overview of a small mob of Cape Petrels in flight (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[December 2024]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

View from above onto a group of three Cape Petrels in flight; the bird at the centre, with shorter primaries, may be a juvenile (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Southern Ocean, January 2005]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Nov - Mar

Eggs: 1

Incubation period: 45 days

Fledging age: ca. 55 days

Nest building: ?

Incubation: Female & male

Dependent care: Female & male

Cape Petrels nest in smaller colonies than other species of petrels. The nests are usually less than 1 km from the coast. If not built under overhanging rocks or in crevices, nearby rocks on flat ground are used for partial protection.

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Rock crevice or bowl

Material: Pebbles

Height above ground: N/A

Pair of Cape Petrels defending its nest against a neighbour or intruder (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Windmill Islands, Antarctica, December 1993]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 72 x 52 mm

Colour: White

Shape: Long tapered oval

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal

Mobility: Migratory/nomadic

Elementary unit: Flock

Cape Petrels breed in colonies and, outside the breeding season, also usually come in flocks, often following ships and fishing boats.

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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